My end of the bargain

Thanks to all of you for proving to me that blogging is so much more than posting a picture and sharing a story: it's about creating community and you have helped me to see exactly how expansive and supportive my community of friends can be! So thank you for all of your kind words.

Now back to business.

I know I promised an update on Parker and that's still coming but we've had some more immediate parenting issues. Madeleine has been vomiting for the last 24 hours. She had a 10-hour reprieve this afternoon (including a 5 hour nap...we were up with her most of the night) but commenced spewing at 8pm tonight. How does one explain the "way" to throw up to a 2 year old? She understands the words themselves but can't bring herself to actually just spit out everything. Instead she ends up swallowing bile back down which starts the process all over again. I winced feeling her little body convulse in my arms as the dry heaves began. No one enjoys throwing up but seeing your little child suffer is even worse. Then she said she was thirsty. She cried and cried asking for water and milk. Again, how do you reason with the parched throat and empty belly of a 2 year old? She doesn't understand because she's always allowed to have these drinks; why not now? I'm hoping she'll fall asleep easily tonight with no more incidents and if she wakes up we'll give her a few sips of pedialyte. The doctor on call said a lot of viral infections have been going around so she wasn't surprised to hear about Madeleine's case. Fortunately Madeleine has had a few wet diapers so we know she's still hydrated. I'm fervently praying Parker stays well...

That leads me to Mr. P as we affectionately call him. Wouldn't you know the little bugger has TWO teeth?!? It was Tuesday of last week that I first realized he was teething in the first place because that little white speck wasn't spit up in his mouth; it was a broken-through tooth! Parker continues to teach me that just because you have one kid that means the second will fall the pattern of the first! Madeleine began teething at 7 months and slept through the night at 2 months. Unlike his big sister however, Parker is willing to let most anyone hold him as long as they smile and make silly faces. He really enjoys playing in the jumperoo as well. You can laugh at my attempt to get a picture of his teeth; the best shot is the last one. And as you can see, he carries his favorite teething toys with him: his fingers!

We are still struggling with sleep. I'm almost ready to try a spoonful of cereal before bed to see if that helps. But as it stands, Justin and I aren't getting sleep anyway with both of the kids sharing my cold (which I've now had for 12 days but I think it's really going away this time) and now with Madeleine puking. We do love this job of his though because he was able to take a half day of sick leave last week and a sick day today.


I have a video to post but it's not downloaded to the computer yet so I'll leave you in suspense for that one but I do have a few new family photos from our first official hike with Parker that we took two weeks ago. It had snowed the night before and left one of our favorite trails up the Rattlesnake Wilderness Area completely blanketed. It was a delight to be out, especially considering the sickness that followed.

One more thing. We are now the proud owners of an indoor-outdoor kitty. No, despite Madeleine's attempts to get me to adopt a new kitty at Petsmart, I'm talking about our good ol' family feline Oreo. We took her to the vet today to get her vaccinations updated so she can terrorize the neighborhood squirrels instead of us. She's already tried to make friends with a neighbor's cat who came over to hiss at her. I practiced some parenting skills in defending Oreo's right to play in our driveway by chasing that cat away. Big tough Mama, that's me! I'm not keen on the dirt she'll bring inside but it's way better than risking her scratching the new couches because she's bored.

That's the skinny on us. More as soon as I have time and energy. Thanks again to all of you for sharing your hearts with us!